Charlotte is a female with eight legs and 514 children, "a true friend
and a good writer," a large gray spider with a voice. Charlotte is also
the star of E.B. White's contemporary classic, "Charlotte's Web,"
recently transferred to the screen as an animated musical. As described by the
author, it is a tale of "friendship and salvation, a story of miracles
ó the miracle of birth, the miracle of friendship, the miracle of death.""Charlotte's Web" is one of the
finest, most popular children's stories of all times. It is also the title song
of this new, popular film. And the curtainraiser in this rousing collection
of great children's songs by Ray Conniff and his fabled musicmakers.Ray Conniff, the blender of distinctive
musical sounds, conducts a jaunty tour with the verve of brass bands, the melowness
of soft voices, the spirit and playfulness of imagination and good-humored understanding.
His style is extraordinary, his combinations of voice and musical instruments
immediately recognizable. Stimulating. Applauded by critics everywhere.Ray adapts his sound with unexpectedness
and liveliness to this this contemporary repertoire of favorite children's songs.
Look down the list included here: Songs from "The Sound of Music"
by Rodgers and Hammerstein. Songs from "Mary Poppins" by the Sherman
Brothers. (They also wrote the music for Charlotte's Web.") Academy-award
songs kids have been having fun with for years.
Ray and his organization obviously have fun with the entire proceedings, too.
Theirs is no ring-around-the-rosy approact. No baby-stepping. It is perceptive.
Honest. A full-fashioned playground spun for a child's daydreaming.
The title song of this album as performed by Ray Conniff captures the sense
and feel of the best-selling classic's message. And he goes high-stepping through
all of this selected list of songs that are so very much a major part of all
our children's modern musical heritage.
Ray Conniff. "Charlotte's Web And Other Children's Favorites." It
is for days and days of uninhibited joys, for games that children play and songs
they will sing forever.  Mort Goode